(Original post by Spheniscidae)
I meant that between my Grade 6 and Grade 7 exams was just under one year, not that I only learned piano for one year before I took my Grade 7! That would have to be some insane talent! xD

I've played piano since the age of five... I think I had been playing for around 7 years when I took my Grade 7 exam.

Wow, you've only been playing since September and you're already doing the Fantasie Impromptu and Pathetique Sonata?! I only played those after I had completed Grade 8 - at this rate, you'll be the one ready to take Grade 7 after one year! (Though admittedly, the second movement of the Beethoven and the Largo section of the Impromptu are the easiest parts of the pieces xD).

2-3 hours is a lot! I have to manage to squish my practise times in between my school lessons, so I usually only practise for 1-2 hours a day, and on some days when my lessons run from 9AM to 6PM non-stop I don't practise at all... it's really bad, 'cause if I'm working on an especially difficult part of a piece, and I only just manage to get it under my fingers, after a day of no practise, I always forget how to play it again.

Today, I found a problem with the Sonnetto del Petrarca that I really wanted to play... my hands are too small to reach any of the left hand chords in the first four-and-a-half bars! Being short is such a pain sometimes.

Ah I see! Well still good going.

Yes the whole of the Pathetique and Fantaisie-Impromptu would be far far far out of my reach at the moment- maybe in a few years . The Chopin Nocturne is probably the hardest thing I can play. I have always been very musical and do have grade 8 in the guitar so I am not coming from a total beginner.

I manage to fit in a lot of practice time, probably even more than that, just because I don't really have much else to do at home in the evenings unless I'm going out, so I tend to just sit at the piano..

I absolutely adore classical music and musical soundtracks. I find every musical era to be beautiful and interesting in its own unique way, because they are different and wonderful. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussey, Gershwin, Bernstein, Sondheim... the composers of music I enjoy listening to are ENDLESS. Not to mention how John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Andrew Lloyd Webber... and other composers of musicals or movie soundtracks are simply ingenious in what they do. In short, classical music, I believe, is the heart of music in general; I couldn't imagine the world without it.

I play piano and I sing. I've been playing piano since I was eight, though I stopped taking piano lessons when I was about to take my grade 7 exam. I didn't have enough time to dedicate to practicing piano anymore due to a hectic schedule over the last two or three recent years. But I still continue voice lessons, and I still play piano when I have free time and I slowly progress to learning my own choice of pieces - like Yiruma's work, or Beethoven's first movement of Moonlight Sonata (though I'd love to learn his third movement as well), Mozarts twelve variations of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Schubert's Musical Moments... the list goes on. I am currently taking my Grade 8 singing exam from ABRSM and my Advanced Diploma (for performance, I think it's called) from the board of Trinity Guildhall. I have a lot of songs to learn; a lot of work to do, WHILE doing my four A-Levels this year.

I also love opera. Of course. Anyone have any particular favorite operas or musicals to mention or to recommend?

In a Wind Dectet I play in we are doing a transcription of the Medelssohn string Octet and it is simply wonderful, has opened my eyes to Mendelssohn in a whole new way. Here is an excellent recording, the Scherzo is simply frightening!

I absolutely adore classical music and musical soundtracks. I find every musical era to be beautiful and interesting in its own unique way, because they are different and wonderful. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussey, Gershwin, Bernstein, Sondheim... the composers of music I enjoy listening to are ENDLESS. Not to mention how John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Andrew Lloyd Webber... and other composers of musicals or movie soundtracks are simply ingenious in what they do. In short, classical music, I believe, is the heart of music in general; I couldn't imagine the world without it.

I play piano and I sing. I've been playing piano since I was eight, though I stopped taking piano lessons when I was about to take my grade 7 exam. I didn't have enough time to dedicate to practicing piano anymore due to a hectic schedule over the last two or three recent years. But I still continue voice lessons, and I still play piano when I have free time and I slowly progress to learning my own choice of pieces - like Yiruma's work, or Beethoven's first movement of Moonlight Sonata (though I'd love to learn his third movement as well), Mozarts twelve variations of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Schubert's Musical Moments... the list goes on. I am currently taking my Grade 8 singing exam from ABRSM and my Advanced Diploma (for performance, I think it's called) from the board of Trinity Guildhall. I have a lot of songs to learn; a lot of work to do, WHILE doing my four A-Levels this year.

I also love opera. Of course. Anyone have any particular favorite operas or musicals to mention or to recommend?